The first-term Florida governor who is leaving that office to seek a vacant U.S. Senate seat said Tuesday he opposes the nomination of Sonya Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court because of what he described as a lack of respect for the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.

Crist hopes to follow retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, who just last week praised the Sotomayor nomination and said he would vote for the appeals court judge from New York.